The shortlists for the 2017 London Football Awards have now been made.
Chelsea lead the way as you would expect given their year so far in the Premier League and Diego Costa, N’Golo Kante, Thibaut Courtois and Antonio Conte find themselves in contention for various categories but players from Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and plenty of others feature in the nomination lists drawn up.
The headline categories are obviously the Manager of the Year award which sees Conte named alongside Mauricio Pochettino, Neil Harris, Neal Ardley and Slavisa Jokanovic, whilst the Player of the Year category features N’Golo Kante, Dele Alli, Alexis Sanchez, Diego Costa and Danny Rose.
Alli is joined by Hector Bellerin, Ademola Lookman, Ryan Sessegnon and Alex Iwobi in the Young Player of the Year contest.
The winners of each category will be named on Thursday March 2 at Battersea Evolution in the evening’s ceremony and the winners will be decided by a panel of leading ex players, football administrators and journalists.
The event will raise funds for Willow, the only national charity providing Special Days for seriously ill 16-40 year olds and with £210,000 raised last season they will be hoping to top that sum.
The charity’s founder, former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson told the Evening Standard that this year he felt Chelsea had warranted their largely dominating nominations and equally Dele Alli more than deserved to feature in both of the Player categories.
‘For Antonio Conte to turn Chelsea around in the manner he has is not only outstanding from his point of view, but it poses the question ‘what the heck happened last season? Conte has revolutionised Chelsea and brought them right back to the top. Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are back to their best and, with Kante being a diamond of an addition to their team, they have a huge advantage. You can`t see them losing the title from here. It is okay having money but you need the ability to find the players that can add to what you have and make a positive difference. Of all the transfers last season, Kante to Chelsea was the biggest move in terms of improving a team.’
Adding.
‘Alli is one of those players who has blossomed. He is not scared of playing with gifted players. It is difficult for a young player to sustain it, but with Alli, he hasn`t just matched it, he is getting better. He is like a ghost in the box. He sees things brilliantly and then when he`s delivered something to create a move, he can drift into areas to produce an end product.’
The nominees in full, along with the other categories, are:
Premier League Player of the Year:
N`Golo Kante (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Diego Costa (Chelsea), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur).
Young Player of the Year:
Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal), Ademola Lookman (Charlton Athletic/Everton), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal).
Manager of the Year:
Antonio Conte (Chelsea), Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham Hotspur), Neil Harris (Millwall), Neal Ardley (Wimbledon), Slavisa Jokanovic (Fulham).
Football League Player of the Year:
Scott Hogan (Brentford/Aston Villa), Tom Cairney (Fulham), John Akinde (Barnet), Alex Smithies (Queens Park Rangers), Sone Aluko (Fulham).
Goalkeeper of the Year:
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Alex Smithies (Queens Park Rangers), Darren Randolph (West Ham), Jordan Archer (Millwall).
Women’s Player of the Year:
Eni Aluko (Chelsea), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Karen Carney (Chelsea), Katie Chapman (Chelsea), Danielle Carter (Arsenal).
Community Project of the Year:
Fulham – Feltham Young Offenders Institute, Crystal Palace – Powerchair Football, Leyton Orient – DCD Football
The Outstanding Contribution to a London Club has no shortlist and the winner will be unveiled on the night of the ceremony itself.
For more information on the London Football Awards please – Click Here
For more information on the charity Willow please – Click Here
